By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles &Features Editor
Young Life on the Pamlico brings together two of Tom Johnson’s passions: Jesus Christ and teenagers.
“I don’t know of any youth ministry that’s larger in the United States, and I’d probably venture in the world,” Johnson said of Young Life, which was founded in 1940. “We’ve got staff in 48 countries, and there are about 20 field offices or areas across North Carolina.”
Johnson, who has served as area director for Young Life on the Pamlico since August 2008, is a product of the ministry.
“I’ve been involved since I was in high school in Cary, and when I attended N.C. State University I became a volunteer,” Johnson said. “I was one of those kids who didn’t feel comfortable in church, and Young Life was there to catch me.”
While the Washington ministry draws teens who are being raised in church and who come from faith-based families, it also reaches out to those who are growing up without those benefits.
“The mission of Young Life is to seek out adolescents who need that relationship,” Johnson said. “It’s Christ-centered, but it’s nonthreatening. Kids who have fallen between the cracks are really our No. 1 target — kids who have nothing else spiritual in their lives.”
But Young Life on the Pamlico brings together teenagers from all walks of life, Johnson said.
“You’ll have kids who go to church youth group all the time, kids who are class presidents,” he said. “But you’ll also have kids who party every weekend.”
The ministry doesn’t favor teenagers who have a stable home life.
“We’re here for the kids that have tough lives and are having tough questions, but we’re here for all of them,” Johnson said. “Our targets are kids who need Christ. The message of Christ is love.”
Johnson, an ordained minister, is a friend as well as mentor to those in the group.
“I try to stay positive in kids’ lives, and I try to cast vision into their lives as to who they can be tomorrow,” he said.
Eight volunteers currently interact with students at Washington High School, according to Johnson, and his dream is to branch out and encompass Southside and Northside high schools, too.
“‘Meet them where they’re at’ is a phrase you hear in Young Life all the time,” he said. “Jesus didn’t just sit in one place and wait for everybody to come to Him. He went out and walked into the community.”
Of course, students from each of the county’s high schools are welcome to attend Young Life’s weekly Monday-night gatherings, which begin at 7:29 at the Brileys’ barn, located at 4133 Terrapin Track Road in Washington.
Under the umbrella of Young Life is another group, called Young Lives.
“That’s an outreach to high-school girls who are teen moms, who have had a child or who are pregnant,” Johnson said. “That is a ministry that is really flourishing, and Julie Howdy and Shelia Tanner are its volunteer coordinators. Forty or so girls are coming to that.”
Part of Young Life’s annual offerings are excursions to a camp, Johnson added. A trip to Windy Gap near Asheville is being planned for late July, and 35 spots for local teens are available. To help offset costs, a Young Life 5K run is scheduled for March 27.
For more information about the camping trip and the 5K fundraiser, see a future issue of the Daily News.
To learn more about Young Life, contact Johnson at 252-402-5088 or pamlicoyl@gmail.com.